The Cobrapost’s sting operation exposed over 30 Bollywood celebrities who agreed to tweet in support of a political party in exchange for money. Television actress Saumya Tandon’s name also cropped up among them but for the right reasons.

The actress, who refused the money-for-tweet offer, has called it someone’s “personal choice” to accept such offers.

“There have been many times I’ve been approached for either endorsing a political party, especially close to elections or to rally for a particular candidate or to talk about a particular party on social media or go attend their parties. I’ve never done that, and I’ll never do that unless and until I truly believe in the person or the party,” she said in a statement.

The Bhabi Ji Ghar Par Hain actress also talked about the celebrities who agreed to spread the propaganda on social media.

“I would never sell myself for money on these kind of things. If I have to really earn money, I would rather do a role or a project which is not of national importance to something which has serious consequences. As far as my comment goes for people who do it for money, I would say that it’s their personal choice,” the actress said.

Cobrapost released a documentary film on the entire sting operation which they carried over a period of 3-4 months in 2018.

Actors Vivek Oberoi, Shakti Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Amisha Patel, Mahima Chaudhary and Sonu Sood, and singers Kailash Kher, Abhijeet and Mika were a few of the prominent personalities of the entertainment industry who were seen agreeing to endorse the agenda of a political party.

The documentary titled Operation Karaoke was unveiled at Delhi Press Club on Tuesday in which actors, dancers, singers and models were caught accepting the offer for promoting political parties through hidden cameras.

The reporters, acting as agents working on behalf of the BJP, the Congress or the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made an offer to pay 10-20 per cent of the agreed amount in cheque or bank transfer and the rest through cash, which the celebrities accepted.

Celebrities were offered Rs 2 lakh to Rs 50 lakh per message, according to their brand value. Some celebrities even asked the ‘agents’ for up to Rs 20 crore citing the sway they hold on the Twitter-sphere.

-With agency inputs